An Auspicious Birthday

I’m not telling Eric Garris I’m doing this, because I’m sure he’d object. He doesn’t take center stage on this web site very often, although without him it wouldn’t exist. He’s our webmaster, you see, and the founder of this site – and it’s his birthday tomorrow (Dec. 24).

For twenty years, Eric has essentially subordinated his life to the demands of running Antiwar.com. He’s not only the webmaster, he’s the manager-par-excellence. Aside from dealing with the purely technical aspects of maintaining this web site, he raises the money, he manages an often-contentious staff, he reins me in when I go more than a bit overboard. (This last task, you might imagine, is close to being a full-time job).

When I asked him what he wanted for his birthday, he told me: “Oh, nothing. But I wish we’d raised a bit more during the fund drive.”

That’s so typical of Eric – it’s always about the web site, never about himself.

Wish I'd caught this soon enough to make a donation in his name. Happy Birthday, Eric, somewhat belatedly. It must feel satisfying to have created one of the best opinion websites there is. This is such a class act, I am sure the authors of the articles are proud to appear here.